Signal for road vehicles



Passed Feb. 15, i927.

SIGNAL FOR ROAD VEHCLE'S.

Application led January 26, 1923. Serial No. 614,949.Y

This invention relates tosigiials tor roadvehicles, especially a combination including a signal for indicating the positionkof the vehicle at night with respect to its front and rear ends,V and a .signal for indicating the status or" the vehicle `with respect toits possessor, owner or operator, also indicating the authority or lack rof authority, of the latter, to operate or move thetvehicle.VY

One object of this invention is. to provide aunitary attachment for' an automobile or votliervehic'le, such attachment to include the combination detinedV in thev preceding .paragraph.

A further object is to provide a device of this character which. is formed of few and simple parts arranged compactly and cooperatively and including a normally closed casing in wliich'all its working parts are inaccessible toa party orv person not in possession of appropriate opening means which maybe provided for and retained by. the authorized operator or userof the vehicle.

A further object is -to provide a device of this character which automatically operates, by traveling movement of" the v vehicle, whether driven by its own power or by an external power7 provided it has been preared to Vthus operate; but which can be kept locked or secured against such operation; and which, when it operates, changes from a mere position-indicator to astatusindicator such as defined in a previous paragraph.V

It isa generally accepted fact that red lights known as tail lights are invariably secured on the rear ends of t-he vehicles that carry them, that vthey face rearwardly, so they can be seen troni behind the vehicles, and can not be seen from in frontfof the vehicles; thus serving, inthe dark, when the vehicle can not be seen, to indicate the positionv of the vehicle, with respect toits front and rear ends. Such is the case with the present device, it being secured on the vehicle with its-face turned rearward so its red light in visible only from the rear; and when it is visible, it indicates that the rear (and not the front) end of the vehicle-is turned towards the observer.

Other objects and desirable features will be pointed out or implied in the following details ofV description, in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Figure l is a face view or front view `of the device havingits upper part broken 0H.

and partV of its bot-tom part in section.

VFigureV 2 is Ya central vertical sectional view.

Figure 3 is a detail view showing part of the face, of the casing broken away, also part otrthe sign-carrying traine broken away, the Vbase Vand lock being omitted.

VFigure 4 is adetail showing the face oi?` Figure 6 is a detail `View showing the Vlo wer part of the lock-casing, the upper part ot' the sign-casing andthe pendulum or secondary lock vwhich holds the sign-frame in its normal position when lthe primary lock is unlocked. I

y The colors red and green areindicated in these 'drawings by parallel vertical and slanting lines, as prescribed in the. Patent vOffice Rules ot' Practice. prescribed for indicating the distinctions As no rules are between transparent, translucent and opaque portions; they are here distinguished by the Vappropriateadjectives;` and it. is to be understood thattliese adjectives are not applied Vonthe drawings as part of the invention; nor aretliey to appear on Vthe device in actual practice, but are merely used here to elucidate the description. However, V,the word Stolen, or any equivalent word or sign so arranged and operated inconnection with the other elements, as described hereinafter, is an important featureroi: the invention. v

The casing l may be cylindrical, as shown, or Ot any appropriate shape, andthe lock-V casing 2 may properly be considered a part of the signal-casing, although it is here shown asbeing removably secured on the casing l by bolts whose vnuts are accessible only from the inside ot' the casingY l, the latter having its rear wall screwed intothe hollow cyhndrical end and there secured by solder, so that it can not be removed except by the employment of such means lthat would be inconvenient, tedious and likely to Y tion 6 (preferably clear glass and formed integrally with .the translucentportion). The opaque portion k4 has an opening 7 therethrough which combines with thel plate extend through 5-6 toform a closed-window which pre- 'Ventsy access to the interior ofthe casing,

through its front side, but permits light` to radiate troina lampS through the parts ot the glass 5 6 which are visible through the opening '7. rPhe lampv 8 vis preferably an electricv lamp whose conducting wires Qinay an opening ot the casing 1 and connect with vanyappropriate source of elect-ric'energy (not shown), and any appropriatevmeans (not shown) may be employed for shielding these lwires and the opening through which they extend.

Anytappropriatemeans may beemployed: 'forsupportingthe lamp 8,*but as here shown,

.the lamp-socketis lsecured on aY flange Vof V a hub or cylindricalrbearing 11. and an insulating plate 12 maybe secured between the socket f and the flange, the hub 11 and plate v12 being provided with a passage 13 Ythrough which the lamp-*conductors extend.

The hub or-bearingy 11'is fixed tov and supported bya standard Aor support 14 Whose base 157is riveted or otherwise united with the casing l, and the upper end of this standardis in the form of a-l collar or abutment which combines with the tlangeilO for preventing aXial movement `of a sign-frame whose hub 16fis journalled on the bearing 11 and-carries `a radial extension 17 which may be either in the form ot' a disc, a spider or ya plurality of arms, but which combines with the hub 16, a plurality of horizontal arms 18V and a iianged ring 19,. to form. the sign-frameV which carries a sign-plate such as shown detached in Fig. 4, this figure also showing the abnormal or theft-indicating position of the sign-plate, the posit-ion of the opening 7 being here indicated by the `broken linecircle.r This disc or plate 20 is entirely translucent and knon-transparcnt.

i f It consists of a normally-upper red portion "21 and a normallyelower portion 22 which is'here indicated as being green, but which Y may bel vany color other than that of the portion 2lgforvinstance, if the public or the ltmliic regulations should adopt any special color or .shade of coloring or combination of colors to indicate theft or unauthorized use of avehicle, then the part 22 will of course be of 'such color, for the same rea-son that red is universally recognized and used to indicate danger; and tor the latter reason, I have adopted red for the parts 5 and 21, although this is also subject to change without departure from my inventive ideas. V

As shown inl Figs.v 1 and 2, the center of the opening 7 is preferably above the center otl the cylindrical casing 1, also above the axis of vthe hub 17,6.; and consequently, the widest part of the opaque portion 4 is below the axis ot rotation of the sign-frame -and the sign-plate. In other words, the opaque part is suliiciently large at its lower part to hide the translucent-green portion or thief"- indication portion whencin the normal posi- 1 and 3 it'is assumed that the lamp is not lighted, hence theredl part l21 is not visible or only dimly visible through the transparent .part 6.

.The rotary frame is provided with a weight 23 whichis normally on or near the center otgravity of the frame andtends to rotate orinvert the frameV andy the signpplate whenever the weight 23 isoli ofthe center of gravity and whenever any side-motion of the weight occursfI-Iow'ev'er, a lock 24 (in the casingr2) (Fig 5) (1o-operates witha secondary lock or motion-operated lock 25 which .is here shown as a pendulum, but the invention isnot limited to this-form of lock or detent. The lower'part ofthe pendulum 25 is provided with a notch 26 which engages with opposite sides yof a Vlug 27 ofthe hub 16 so that the hub Vcan not rotate, even after the bolt 28 orl the lock 24 is retracted "out ot engagement with the normally-upper arm 18 oi' the'sign-'frame, provided that the vehicle is not in traveling motion; but such traveling motion causes the pendulum 25 to swlng .and dlsengage the lug 27,-and.the we1ght-23 will then cause the signframeto invert the si gnplate from the position shown in Figs. 2 and 3 to the position shown in Fig. 4, thus bringingintov view' the color that lii'idicates theft orunauthorized use ot' the vehicle. In addition to such color, I may employ any word or abbreviation or sign 29 for indicating the Auna uthorized use or theft of the vehicle, for instance, the word Stolen on the theft-indicating color.`

A base 30 and securing bolts, one of the present to view two shades? of red. In ligs.'`

latter being shown at 31,'may bev provided for securing the device to any appropriate part of the vehicle or supp-ort on the vehicle', and these bolts may be `riveted so the nuts can not be removed with a wrench (by unscrewiiig), or other means may be employed for securing the device to a vehicle. When the device is secured to the vehicle, its signal faces rearward; the signal-face being in a vertical plane extending transversely of the line of travel of the vehicle.

This device includes certain features and principles which are includedv in my theftpreventingdevice which is the subject matter of a patent-application filed by ine Sept. 27th, 1921, Serial No. 503,579; and therefore, this device is to some extent an improvement upon that former invention. Among other similar features, attention is directed to the lock, Fig. 5 whose tumbler-seat 32 is provided with two sets of key-controlled plungers which lock the tumbler 34 in two positions, that is, in the position for holding the bolt 28 in the locking relation with the arm 18 and out of this locking relation. To those who are familiar with this well known class of locks, no further eqnlaiiatioi'i seems necessary; for any appropriate form of lock may be employed in lieuof the one here shown.

Operation.

Every time lt-lie owner or authorized userv frame, at the same time bringing-the key inV alineinent with the lower set of plungers 33,V

'- and on withdrawing the key, this set of plungers lock the cylinder 32 in position to hold the bolt 28 up out of engagement vwith the sign-Y frame. The secondary lock or pendulum 25 retains the sign-frame in its normal position, and unless the vehicle is caused to travel, the owner orA rightful user, on returning, re-inserts the key and turns it for re-engaging the bolt 28l with the sign-casing; but if the vehicle is caused to travel at a velocity suiiicient to vibrate Ythe pendulum 25 (while the lock 24. is unlocked), the notch 26 will swing out of engagement with the lug 27 of the sign-frame, thus releasing the latter and permitting its weight 23 to invert it so as to show the theft-sign through the transparent part 6. I Y Y It is not inten ded to limit this invention to the exact construction and arrangement here shown and described, but Vchanges maybe made within the scope of the inventive ideas as implied and claimed. 1

lWhat I claim as my invention is l. In a signal rfor road-vehicles; the combination of a casing provided with means for attaching it to a road-vehicle, said casing including a window; a sign which is normally hidden within'the casing and, constitutes an evidence of unauthorized user when itis visible through sai-d window; Vand normally locked ,means to controlithe `hiding of` said sign, said normally locked means Abeingprovided to operate by traveling movement of the road-vehicle so as to change the signal from its function as a tail-light to its Afunction of indicating unauthorized traveling movement of the roacl-vehicle. s

2. The combined tail-light and theft-signal for road-vehicles, including a casing provided with means to secure it to a roadvehicle, the face of saidv casing havinggawindow including a transparent portion, a lamp in said casing, and anautomatically shiftable sign-member Ybetween said lamp and said window, said sign-member including two signs which are alternately visible through said window as the sign-member shifts, one of said signsincluding red for correlation with the lamp for providingthe tail-light, the other sign including a color distinctly different from thatV of the taillight-sign, this other sign also including a word or symbol to indicate unauthorized travel of the road-vehicle.

nal for attachment to road-vehicles, including a casing having a window which includes a transparent portion, a lamp vin said casing,

an automatically shiftable sign-inember 'in the casing and including two signs whichy are alternately visible through said window as the sign-member shifts, one of said signs including red for correlation with the lamp in providing the tail-light, the other Sign including a color other than red and being of a character to indicate unauthorized use.

4. rlhe structure defined by claim 3, and means to lock and unlock the sign-member to hold it against shifting, and permit it to be shifted by traveling movement of the road-vehicle when unlocked.

5. The structure deiinedby claim 3, means to lock the sign-member against shifting, and detaining means to prevent other than traveling movement of the road-vehicle from shifting the sign-member, 'said detaining means being operable by traveling movement for releasing said sign-member and permitting it to shift to the theft-signalling position.

6, The-'combined tail-light `and thet-sigthe tail-,light-sign is visible through Said nalif'or roadLVehioles including a casing atytransparent portion,` said signs being auto- 10 'tichabl'e 'to a road-vehiole and including a matioally shiftable by mot-ion of the `vehicle transparent portion', a theft-sign in the cas- When unlocked, so as vto show `the theft-sign ing, a tail-light-Sign in the easing and nolud-v through said transparent portion. i ing a red portion, means to' illuminate these In testimony whereof I ailix my signature. Y signs, and means to lock the signs in Such Y position that the theft-Sign iS hidden While THOMAS E. DAUGHERTY. 

